The changing face of LeBron

Hitting the game-winning shot was nice and all for rookie point guard Sundiata Gaines.

But one of the favorite parts of his big night?

Ruining what had been LeBron James’ big night.

“Nothing’s going to compare to this – beating the Cavs, especially LeBron,” Gaines said while talking about his buzzer-beater at practice Friday.

“I liked seeing his face. I didn’t like the face he made after he hit that three.”

James actually hit four 3-pointers en route to a phenomenal 36-point night, but Gaines certainly was talking about the longest of his long balls. The King shot from outside of the moat with the shot clock running down to put the Cavs up 89-85 with 40 seconds left.

And that came 30 seconds after James gave Cleveland an 86-85 lead with a – you guessed (or remembered) – another three ball. That one was the one that came after he back-pedaled behind the 3-point line after somehow ending up with the basketball following his missed free throw.

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Just found this incredibly well-done highlight video by MaxaMillion71 on YouTube:

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Want more? Go ahead and relive some of the memorable plays from Thursday’s game with the NBA.com’s Top 5 plays – three of which were made by Jazz players.

Guess which play is No. 1?

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Finally, gotta give Jazz radio broadcaster David Locke some credit.

He called his shot – or Gaines’ shot – as the Jazz came out of their 20-second timeout before the exciting ending.

Locke’s call:

“Why do I have a feeling this is going to be Sundiata Gaines and the storybook is going to be so good it’s unreal? Let’s see what happens:

“96-94, 5.6 seconds left. Miles to inbound. Korver catch. Gives it off to Price. He’s dribbling. He’s out of control, gives to Gaines, at the horn – HE GOT IT! HE GOT IT FOR THREE!!! Sundiata Gaines, welcome to the NBA! The Jazz win 97-96! Oh my goodness!”

Here’s a link (clicky, clicky here) to what has to be considered Locke’s signature call so far in his 39-game career as the Jazz’s radio voice.